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How many tons of solid municipal waste are produced daily/yearly in the 4 main cities of Georgia (Country) and mention if there is any waste to energy initiative or plant operating or in planning?
Hello! Thanks for your question about how many tons of solid municipal waste are produced daily/yearly in the four main cities of Georgia. The most useful sources I found to answer your question are cleanup.ge and waste.gov.ge. The sources found measure trash in cubic meters, therefore I made my own calculations to convert the number to tons per your request. The short version is that Tbilisi produces approximately 869,860 tons of solid municipal waste per year and 2,416.3 tons of municipal waste per day. Batumi produces approximately 180,954.65 tons of solid municipal waste per year and 534.8 tons of municipal waste per day. Kutaisi produces approximately 130,612.45 tons of solid municipal waste per year and 375.5 tons of municipal waste per day. Rustavi produces approximately 25,585.5 tons of solid municipal waste per year and 72.5 tons of municipal waste per day.
Below you will find a deep dive of my findings.
Methodology & Limitations
In order to find how many tons of solid municipal waste are produced in the four main cities of Georgia, I first found that the four largest cities are Tbilisi, Kutaisi, Batumi, and Rustavi. After that, I searched academic databases, corporate websites, industry reports, government reports/databases, and trusted media sites to help find the information for this request.
One of the limitations of this request is that the most recent data on solid municipal waste available is from 2011. Another limitation is that there is no data in the form of solid municipal waste in tons. Therefore, I had to triangulate an estimation based on several calculations described in the next section.
Calculations
The amount of trash collected daily and monthly from available data is measured in cubic meters, which is volume. In order to convert volume into tons, which is mass, I had to find the density of solid municipal waste.
According to Waste 360, an average pound of solid municipal waste compacted in a landfill has a density of 739 yards per cubic pound. Since our numbers are metric, I needed to convert pounds per cubic yards to kilograms per cubic meter. Using Google's unit converter, I found 1 pound per cubic yard equals 0.593276 kilograms per cubic meter.
Calculated below:
739*.593276=438.4 kilograms per cubic meter.
Therefore, the density of solid municipal waste is 438.4 kilograms per cubic meter. In order to convert cubic meters into kilograms, I multiplied each daily/yearly figure by 438.4.
Each city's solid municipal waste calculations are shown below.
Tbilisi
Tbilisi is the capital and largest city in the country of Georgia with 1,331,800 people. As of 2011, 5000 cubic meters of municipal waste were collected daily and 150,000 cubic meters of municipal waste were collected monthly.
To find daily tons, I used my conversion calculations from above:
5000 cubic meters*438.4 kilograms per cubic meter=2,192,000 kg
Converting kilograms to tons:
2,192,000/907.18 = 2,416.3 Tons of solid municipal waste per day.
Since a figure was not provided for yearly municipal waste, I multiplied the monthly amount of waste collected by 12 months which is: 150,000*12=1,800,000.
Therefore, Tbilisi produces 1,800,000 cubic meters of municipal waste per year.
Using my conversion calculations above I calculated:
1,800,000 cubic meters*438.4 kilograms per cubic meter=789,120,000 kg
Converting kilograms to tons:
789,120,000/907.18 = 869,860 Tons of solid municipal waste per year.
Batumi
Batumi is the second largest city in the country of Georgia at 155,000 people. As of 2011, 1106.76 cubic meters of municipal waste were collected daily and 31,204.12 cubic meters of municipal waste were collected monthly.
To find daily tons I used my conversion calculations from above:
1106.76 cubic meters*438.4 kilograms per cubic meter=485,203.6 kg
Converting kilograms to tons:
485,203.6/907.18 = 534.8 Tons of solid municipal waste per day.
Since a figure was not provided for yearly municipal waste, I multiplied the monthly amount of waste collected by 12 months which is: 31,204.12*12=374,449.44.
Therefore, Batumi produces 374,449.44 cubic meters of municipal waste per year.
Using my conversion calculations above I calculated:
374,449.44 cubic meters*438.4 kilograms per cubic meter=164,158,442 kg
Converting kilograms to tons:
164,158,442/907.18 = 180,954.65 Tons of solid municipal waste per year
Kutaisi
Kutaisi is the third largest city in the country of Georgia at 147,500 people. As of 2011, 777 cubic meters of municipal waste were collected daily and 22,523 cubic meters of municipal waste were collected monthly.
To find daily tons, I used my conversion calculations from above:
777 cubic meters*438.4 kilograms per cubic meter=340,636.8 kg
Converting kilograms to tons:
340,636.8/907.18 = 375.5 Tons of solid municipal waste per day.
Since a figure was not provided for yearly municipal waste, I multiplied the monthly amount of waste collected by 12 months which is: 150,000*12=270,276. Therefore, Kutaisi produces 270,276 cubic meters of municipal waste per year.
Using my conversion calculations above I calculated:
270,276 cubic meters*438.4 kilograms per cubic meter=118,488,998 kg
Converting kilograms to tons:
118,488,998/907.18 = 130,612.45 Tons of solid municipal waste per year
Rustavi
Rustavi is the fourth largest city in the country of Georgia at 126,200 people. As of 2011, 150 cubic meters of municipal waste were collected daily and 4412 cubic meters of municipal waste were collected monthly.
To find daily tons, I used my conversion calculations from above:
150 cubic meters*438.4 kilograms per cubic meter=65,760 kg
Converting kilograms to tons:
65,760/907.18 = 72.5 Tons of solid municipal waste per day.
Since a figure was not provided for yearly municipal waste, I multiplied the monthly amount of waste collected by 12 months which is: 4412*12=52,944. Therefore, Rustavi produces 52,944 cubic meters of municipal waste per year.
Using my conversion calculations above I calculated:
52,944 cubic meters*438.4 kilograms per cubic meter=23,210,649.6 kg
Converting kilograms to tons:
23,210,649.6/907.18 = 25,585.5 Tons of solid municipal waste per year
Analysis of Waste to Energy Initiative
Since 2014, Georgia has been working with Germany to help improve their waste management structure. The plan includes taking the current system of 53 municipal landfills and transforming it into a system of 8 to 10 regional landfills compliant with international standards.
At the beginning of the process, 99.97% of Georgia's waste was disposed of in landfills and not recycled. One of the goals of the plan is to improve recycling numbers.
Conclusion
To wrap it up, based on my calculations Tbilisi produces approximately 869,860 tons of solid municipal waste per year and 2,416.3 tons of municipal waste per day. Batumi produces approximately 180,954.65 tons of solid municipal waste per year and 534.8 tons of municipal waste per day. Kutaisi produces approximately 130,612.45 tons of solid municipal waste per year and 375.5 tons of municipal waste per day. Rustavi produces approximately 25,585.5 tons of solid municipal waste per year and 72.5 tons of municipal waste per day. As I mentioned in the limitation section, these are estimations based on a series of calculations to help triangulate an appropriate number.
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